Combined appendix and inflation tube



July 29, 1958] R. l. HAKOMAKI 4 COMBINED APPENDIX AND INFLATION, TUBEFiled Sept. 19, 1956 w ice COMBINED APPENDIX AND INFLATION TUBE RaymondI. Hakomaki, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to the United States of Americaas represented by the Secretary of the Air Force Application September19, 1956, Serial No. 610,876

4 Claims. (Cl. 244-31) This invention relates to an improved balloonand, more particularly, to a balloon in which inflation and launching isfacilitated.

In the science of meterology and weather observation, it is customary tosend balloons aloft in order to determine various atmosphericconditions, as for example, the direction and speed of air currents atvarious altitudes. Where it is desired to determine the overall patternof air currents at altitudes, a large number of these balloons arereleased to ascend to predetermined altitudes. After reaching a givenaltitude, each of said balloons will descend to various positions on theground and from their various distances away from the release point plusthe time it takes each balloon to reach its respective position, thedirection and speed of air currents at different altitudes may bedetermined; however, this can involve a multiplicity of errors since theaccuracy of this method depends, primarily, on the measurement of aplurality of distances to the point of ground contact and the time toeach ground contact which is not only a time-consuming, but is alsoa'relatively inaccurate operation; consequently; in order to obtain moreaccurate information as quickly as possible the balloons are equippedwith radiosonde and other meteorological equipment to give continuousdata from each balloon, thereby eliminating the multiplicity of errorspossible in the former method.

When the balloon is to be used, primarily, to track the wind pattern atvarious altitudes including the upper atmosphere, it is desirable thatsaid balloon be relatively small in size, both from the standpoint ofeconomy and to ensure its rise to a relatively higher floating altitudebecause of the relatively light weight. In addition to the above, theheretofore relatively large type balloon formerly used for such purposesnot only was at a disadvantage due to its increased weight but alsobecause of the difliculty in getting a relatively small amount oflifting gas into the upper portion of said balloon. Furthermore, theconsiderable extent of loose folds at the lower portion of saidrelatively large type balloon involves a considerable difliculty duringhandling and manipulation on the ground due to the presentation of asubstantial and :unwieldy surface to ground winds during the chargingand launching phases of operation whereas the utilization of the smallertype balloon minimizes these ground handling problems.

As a result of the extreme difliculty in handling the large typeballoon, as indicated above, certain means have been developed foreliminating or minimizing the danger of wind catching in the foldsduring charging and launching. An example of said means involves theaddition of some surrounding structure, such as, a reefing sleeveelement to enclose said loose folds and thereby provide a passageway forthe admission of lifting gas into the upper end of said balloon and topresent a smooth surface to the wind. Said sleeve element is ordinarilyremoved from said balloon either prior to launching or during its ascentand, as such, is not normally a permanent part of the balloon structure.Moreover, the removal of said sleeve element required an additionaltime-wasting step and/or additional structure to automatically releasesaid element during the launching and/or ascendency of said balloon.

During inflation prior to launching, the balloon is partially filledwith some appropriate gas, as for example, helium or hydrogen. Completefilling is not effected since the gas will expand tremendously at thehigher altitudes and it is, therefore, necessary to allow for suchexpansion at ground level. Prior to such inflation, the balloon isusually stretched out in a flat condition, and since the gas is normallyintroduced into the bottom portion of the balloon, this has led to theproblem of positioning the gas into the upper part of said balloon. Ithas been found that there is a tendency for the gas to collect in thefolds and bottom or intermediate portions of the balloon. One means forovercoming this latter difiiculty has been to incorporate an inflationtube in the balloon itself, one end of which is led into the interior ofsaid balloon by way of the balloon appendix, while the other end thereofis connected to a suitable source of gas supply. Such an inflation tubeis, of course, most appropriate for use with the very large type ofballoon. This solution has been found unsatisfactory both from thestandpoint of time and the equipment involved, and also because uponcompletion of the inflation or charging, it is necessary to remove saidtube prior to launching the balloon, making for additional Wasted eifortwhereit is extremely important that the time expended be reduced to aminimum, as in the case of launching a large number of small balloons inI rapid order. Furthermore, there is the difliculty encountered when akink develops in said tube during inflation or charging, at which pointit becomes necessary to stop inflation until the kink is removed.Moreover, if this is not done in time, said tube may burst resulting ingas being trapped within the lower portion of the balloon. In addition,such a tube is an accessory which may produce further complications.

It has thus been determined that the utilization of a relatively smallballoon for certain purposes is most appropriate; furthermore, saidballoons may be made either of rubber or plastic material depending onsurrounding conditions. ber has been found most appropriate since itsuse facilitates handling and manipulation due to the retention of itsspherical shape on expansion, whereas a plastic material is morefeasible at low ambient temperatures. In the latter event, rubberbecomes brittle and hard and, therefore, increasingly diflicult tohandle and manipulate.

The advent of plastic materials utilizable in a balloon to obtain thenecessary rigidity of surface now makes it feasible to utilize arelatively small balloon to full advantage in order to determine thewind pattern and other desirable data at various altitudes including thehigher altitudes Where the instruments carried thereby are releasedautomatically and lowered by parachute.

It is therefore seen that where, as in the instant case, it is necessaryto launch a large number of small, lightweight balloons, almostsimultaneously, to obtain information on the direction and speed ofvarious winds and air currents at different altitudes, it is not onlyhighly desirable, but it is even necessary to provide a balloon simpleand unique in design to enable inflation and launching to beaccomplished with a minimum of equipment and effort required.

It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a means ofinflating a balloon which obviates the requirement for an inflation tubeto be incorporated within the balloon.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a.

Patented July 29, 1958- With moderate temperatures, rub-- I 3 balloonconstruction which facilitates the launching of a plurality of balloonsin a minimum of time.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of asimple means for separation of the lifting gas supply line from theballoon with a minimum of motions required.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a simple meansfor enhancing flight performance by maintaining gas purity in theballoon by the restricting of air flow therein during its ascent.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts in thefigures.

Fig. l is a view of the balloon utilized in the invention immediatelyafter charging and just prior to launching illustrating details of thecombined appendix-inflation tube.

Fig. 2 is a second view of the balloon of Fig. 1 immediately after theinflation tube has been severed and the balloon launched.

Fig. 3 is a third View of the balloon of Figs. 1 and 2 with the appendixremoved, illustrating the condition thereof after ascendency to anintermediate altitude.

With particular reference to Fig. l of the drawings, the numeral 1designates a fully charged balloon having an envelope with a relativelysmall spherical upper body portion 1a and a relatively large conicallower body portion 111. The balloon envelope may comprise a plurality ofgores sealed together in any appropriate manner. Said gores may consistof a suitable plastic material, such as, polyethylene. A load 2 issuspended from said balloon 1 in a manner hereinafter described. Theload 2 may include radiosonde or other meteorological equipment wherebycontinuous data is radioed back to ground as to appropriate information,such as, temperature, pressure and humidity. The main suspension cord 3is employed to suspend the load 2 in its suspended condition. Said cord3 is attached at one end to said balloon 1 at the suspension point 4while the other end thereof extends downwardly and is threaded throughthe ring 6 and then is attached to said balloon at the suspension point5 which is horizontally aligned with, and is in spaced relation to, thesuspension point 4. A second cord 7 is attached at its upper end to thebottom part of said ring 6 and at its lower end to the payload or load2.

The balloon 1 includes an appendix 8 incorporated therewith on thebottom part thereof. The main suspension cord 3, the ring 6, and part ofthe cord 7 are enclosed within said appendix 8; however, the importantand unique feature of the latter is that it has a two-fold or combinedcharacteristic, first, it is an appendix, and, second, it is aninflation tube also. In other words, instead of a separate inflationtube incorporated in the balloon itself, the present invention comprisesa combined appendix and inflation tube. Thus, this combined element 8may be broken into an upper and lower portion, the appendix 8a and theinflation tube 811, respectively. Said upper portion 8a serves as theusual appendix to provide a guide channel to direct the incominginflating gas to the interior of the balloon 1. Said lower or inflationtube portion 812 extends from the point 10 and is curved and tapered tothe tube opening 11 to facilitate its connection to a suitable source ofgas supply, as seen clearly in Fig. l. The latter is not shown. Thecombined appendix and inflation tube 8 is provided with a hole oropening 9 through which the load line 7 extends during the initialcharging phase of the balloon 1.

The previously-described combined appendix and inflation tube 8 not onlyhas the characteristic of adaptability for connection to a suitablesource of gas supply, but also has the inherent means for restrictingthe inflow of air into the interior of the balloon 1 and therebymaintaining gas purity therein. Said restricting means may take twoforms. One such form is as shown in Fig. 2

of the drawings wherein a simple cylindrical appendix is shown in whichthe load line 7 passes through the center or longitudinal axis of thecylindrical section. With the use of this form of restricting means, airintake is prevented during the ascent of said balloon 1 by the laminarcollapse of said cylindrical section when air attempts to enter intosaid balloon 1. Moreover, the addition of the pressurehead of gas in thecylindrical appendix retards mixing of gas and air. A second form ofrestricting means involves the same combined appendix and inflation tubeas at 8 in Fig. l but instead of severing at the point 10, said appendix8 is circumferentially severed at its tapered opening 11 so that theload line 7 is allowed to remain extending through the opening 9. Thisresults in a cylindrical section of plastic material between the point10 and the tapered opening 11 and lying free of said load line 7. Suchan arrangement provides a bronx-cheer or flapper type valve to excludethe admission of air into the interior of the balloon 1. Moreover, saidvalve may be further refined by the positioning of a spreader bar device(not shown) in said valve to insure that said cylindrical section ofplastic material ordinarily lies flat and, as such, is in an idealposition to collapse if air should attempt to pass into the interior ofsaid balloon 1 and, at the same time, provides a low resistant openingfor excess gas to vent to atmosphere as the balloon 1 reaches the finalportion of its ascent.

After a predetermined amount of inflating gas has been introduced intothe interior of said balloon 1 at which time the latter is ready forlaunching, the combined appendix and inflation tube 8 iscircumferentially severed either at the cut-off point 10 or the tubeopening 11. In order to ensure proper separation between the inflationtube 8b and the appendix 8a and to free the load line 7 from its narrowconfinement in the opening or hole 9, a plurality of wax pencil marks 12are circumferentially arranged around the combined appendix-inflationtube 8, said marks extending from said cut-off point 10 to said opening9 and acting as a guide during the severing operation. Upon completionof said severing operation, the balloon 1 may now be released orlaunched. This is the condition of said balloon 1 as illustrated in Fig.2. Of course, at this point the upper body portion 1a is relativelysmall while the lower body portion 1b is relatively large, since onlythe initial volume of the lifting gas admitted is present in the balloonenvelope.

With particular reference to Fig. 2, the balloon 1 is illustratedimmediately after it has been released or launched. Immediately prior tosaid release, the balloon 1 was charged with an appropriate amount ofinflating or lifting gas as previously described, the amount thereofbeing just suflicient to lift the balloon 1 and the load 2 at groundlevel plus an excess lift necessary to force the balloon upward so thatas the balloon rises to the upper altitudes, the increasing rarifiedatmosphere will permit expansion of said gas to increase its liftingpower. This rise to higher altitudes continues until, in the case of theconstant volume balloons, the maximum predetermined altitude is reachedand the balloon 1 will float at constant altitude until some of the gashas been dissipated, at which time it will start to descend unlessballast is dropped. It is to be noted that the appendix 8a may includean appropriate automatic valve or the like which prevents air frommixing with the gas as the balloon is being charged and, also,positively closes off the appendix opening when inflation or charging iscompleted. Said automatic valve structure is not shown since it plays noimportant role in the present invention. There remains only the finalstep of severing or cutting off the inflation tube 8b preparatory toreleasing or launching the balloon. A plurality of such balloons arereleased at the same time or as near together as possible. Theseballoons may be equipped with a message so that anyone discovering themafter their descent tov ground may effect their prompt return.

It is noted that the upper body portion 1a of the balloon illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2 is relatively small in size and that the lower bodyportion 1b thereof appears somewhat elongated since in both Figures 1and 2 only suflicient lifting gas has been admitted into said upper bodyportion 1a to charge said balloon and, as yet, no additional inflationhas occurred. In Fig. 1, the balloon envelope is shown immediately afterit has been fully charged but just prior to the severing of theinflation tube 8b from the appendix 8a whereas in Fig. 2, the sameballoon is shown immediately after said severing has occurred and therelease has been completed. In the latter case, no change is apparent inthe relative sizes of the upper and lower body portions 1a and 11) sincesaid balloon has not yet ascended above ground level. In Fig. 3,however, the balloon 1 has ascended to an intermediate altitude and atthis point it is seen that its spherical upper body portion 1a hasbecome larger than that seen in Figs. 1 and 2 in relation to itsdiameter and to its relative proportion with respect to its conicallower body portion 1b. In other words, a considerable amount ofinflation has become evident in the balloon 1 of Fig. 3. The balloon 1will continue to ascend and expand until it reaches its predeterminedaltitude at which time it will be almost entirely or generally sphericalin shape, or it will take the shape as determined by its design.

To summarize the complete operation of the balloon 1 of the presentinvention, first, the balloon of Fig. 1 is fully charged with anappropriate lifting gas, second, the combined appendix and inflationtube 8 is separated or severed and the balloon is launched (Fig. 2),third, the balloon has inflated considerably after ascending to anintermediate altitude (Fig. 3) and, lastly, an inherent means of ventinggas is provided during its ascent to the ceiling altitude to reduce thedanger of rupturing.

An important characteristic of the invention, therefore, resides in theprovision of a balloon construction which permits the utilization of aballoon that is relatively small in size and yet will ascend to thehigher altitudes without the danger of rupturing, but, most of all, theinvention provides a balloon construction which eliminates the need fora separate inflation tube and combines that element with the balloonappendix, since the balloon is relatively small and the diflicultproblem of handling and positioning the lifting gas in the upper bodyportion of the relatively larger type balloon is minimized.

Thus, the present invention involves a new and unique balloon, simplein'design and operation, one that facilitates inflation and launchingwith a minimum of wasted effort, and which provides such a valvingmechanism as will enhance successful flight performance.

I claim:

1. A meteorological balloon comprising a balloon envelope ofsubstantially spherical configuration, an appendix extending downwardlyfrom said envelope and tapering into a bottom inflation opening adaptedto be connected to a source of gas supply, said appendix having acircumferentially disposed aperture at an intermediate portion thereof,and means for suspending a load from said envelope, said meanscomprising a suspension rope attached to said envelope, aload-supporting ring attached to said suspension rope, and a load-lineextending through said aperture attached to said load-supporting ringand adapted to be attached to a load.

2. A meteorological balloon comprising a combined appendix and inflationtube attached to the bottom of said balloon, and means for suspending apay-load from said balloon, said combined appendix and inflation tubeconsisting of an upper substantially straight-line appendix portion anda lower cur-ved extension inflation tube portion terminating in atapered inflation opening, said appendix portion having acircumferential wall opening in the area of juncture between said lowerand upper portions remote from said inflation opening, said combinedappendix and inflation tube having circumferential guide marks incommunication with said wall opening facilitat ing separation betweensaid appendix and inflation tube portions, said suspending meanscomprising a load-line attached to said pay-load, a suspension lineattached to said balloon inside said appendix, and an interconnectingmember between said suspension line and said load-line inside saidappendix, said load-line extending between said pay-load and saidinterconnecting member through said wall opening.

3. A meteorological balloon as in claim 2, said inflation tube portionbeing adaptable for connection to a source of gas supply in the area ofsaid tapered inflation opening and severable therefrom along saidcircumferential guide marks in the area of said wall opening.

4. A meteorological balloon as in claim 2, said appendix portionconstituting means for effectively retarding the influx of air into saidballoon subsequent to the severing of said inflation tube portiontherefrom, said means comprising a tubular appendix section, saidtubular section consisting of plastic material lying free of saidload-line and automatically collapsible to restrict any flow of airattempting to enter into the interior of said balloon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,635,835 Dungan et a1 Apr. 21, 1953 2,764,369 Melton Sept. 25, 19562,771,256 Ryan Nov. 20, 1956

